Friday, November 1, 1996
W. SOCCER:
Lots of luck, big wins are essential if UCLA hopes to competeBy Brad Zucker
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
After last Sunday's demoralizing loss to California, the UCLA women's soccer team was "officially" out of the national playoff race. That is, unless you understand NCAA tournament selection.
In fact, the Bruins (10-6-1, 3-2-0 Pac-10) still have an outside chance to capture an automatic bid by way of the Pac-10 title. For this to happen, UCLA must win its remaining conference games against Oregon State (5-11-0, 1-4-0) and Stanford (9-7-0, 4-0-0) this weekend at Spaulding Field, then hope for a brain-bending string of events to occur.
If you wish to read further, I suggest grabbing a couple of Advil.
First and foremost, either USC or Cal must also beat league-leader Stanford (the Trojans take on the Cardinal today at USC). However, since the Bruins lost to both the Trojans and the Golden Bears, both of those teams must also lose a game before the regular season ends.
The logic behind the latter point is that even though UCLA has the same number of losses in conference play as USC and Cal, the other two hold an edge in head-to-head competition. If Stanford knocks off either team, then the Bruins only have to worry about one of them losing another game.
But if both teams defeat the Cardinal, Cal will have to have lost its prior game and USC will have to lose its last.
If you didn't follow that, you're not alone.
"I really don't understand how things have to play out," head coach Joy Fawcett said. "We're still a contender, but our best chance (at making the NCAA tournament) is probably through an at-large bid."
Tuesday's overtime win over USF helped keep that possibility alive, although the team's performance was less than optimal.
"They were so down from the loss to Cal, I think it's the worst I've seen them play," Fawcett said. "But they showed a lot of heart to come back in the USF game."
The Bruins were led in the "grit" department by Traci Arkenberg. The superstar forward proved that her toughness rivals her talent with her gutty performance against the Lady Dons. Injured against Cal on Sunday, Arkenberg played her way through a painful hip injury to rack up a goal and an assist in Tuesday's contest. She will undergo an MRI before the weekend games as a precaution, but she is expected to participate.
The challenge for Fawcett's team might be all the more difficult as UCLA will have only a day to prepare for Stanford on Sunday. The coach is not concerned with this aspect, however.
"We saw them play back at UNC (an early-season tournament)," Fawcett said. "They're solid everywhere. But I think things are more dependent on us. The talent is there, it's just the mentality. I just need to find a way to get in their heads."
JON FERREY/Daily Bruin
Bree Edwards will try to help sustain UCLA's playoff hopes.